Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a convenient source of information about crucial sections of the ESA. It is for your details and help just. It is not a legal document. If you need details or employment specific language, please refer to the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide ought to not be utilized as or thought about legal recommendations. You might have higher rights under an employment contract, cumulative contract, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, please talk with an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

advantage plans

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

critical illness leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work requirements poster: circulation requirements

equivalent spend for equivalent work

family caretaker leave

family medical leave

household responsibility leave

submitting a claim

hours of work, consuming durations and rest periods

transmittable disease emergency situation leave

licensing – short-term assistance agencies and recruiters

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of earnings

pregnancy and adult leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of employment

ill leave

short-term assistance agencies

termination of work and short-term layoffs

tips or gratuities

holiday.

written policy on detaching from work.

composed policy on electronic tracking of staff members.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are restricted from penalizing workers in any way due to the fact that the employee exercised ESA rights.

Clients of short-term help firms are prohibited from penalizing project workers in any way due to the fact that the task staff member exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from penalizing potential workers who engage or use the recruiter’s services in any way for particular factors, consisting of asking the employer to abide by the Act or inquiring about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, customers of temporary aid companies and recruiters who commit a reprisal can be:

– purchased to compensate the staff member, project staff member or potential worker.

– bought to reinstate the employee or task employee (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or client of a temporary help agency).

– bought to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act gives an employee a greater right or benefit than a minimum employment requirement under the ESA then that arrangement applies to the worker instead of the work requirement.

No waiving of rights

No employee can accept waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to receive overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such agreement is null and void.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can lead to enforcement action.

The type of enforcement action that can be taken depends on which provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples consist of:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of breach with a monetary charge.

– an order to renew and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains just some of the rules affecting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems such as workplace health and security, employment human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws include the:

Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

Labour Relations Act, 1995.

Pay Equity Act.

Human Rights Code.

For additional information about other Ontario laws, contact ServiceOntario:

– Tel: 416-326-1234 (in Toronto).

– Toll-free: 1-800-267-8097 (in the rest of Ontario).

– online at ServiceOntario.ca.

Federal laws affecting work environments consist of statutes on earnings tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension.

For more details about federal laws, call the Government of Canada info line at 1-800-622-6232.

Who is not covered by the ESA?

Most staff members and employers in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some people and individuals or companies they work for, such as:

– employees and companies in sectors that fall under federal employment law jurisdiction, such as airline companies, banks, the federal civil service, post workplaces, radio and television stations and .

– individuals working under a program approved by a college of applied arts and technology or university.

– individuals working under a program that is approved by a profession college signed up under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.

– secondary school students who work under a work experience program licensed by the school board that operates the school in which the student is registered.

– individuals who do community involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.

– law enforcement officer (except for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do use).

– inmates taking part in work or rehab programs, or people who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.

– people who hold political, judicial, employment spiritual or chosen trade union workplaces.

– significant junior ice hockey players who satisfy specific conditions related to scholarships.

– people who meet the definition of organization expert or infotech specialist under the ESA if specific conditions are satisfied.

For a total listing of other people not governed by the ESA, please inspect the ESA and its regulations.

Employee misclassification

Employers are forbidden from misclassifying workers as independent professionals, interns, volunteers or any other kind of employee not covered by the ESA.

Discover more about staff member misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has extra resources available to assist you:

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the primary referral source for the policies of the Director of Employment Standards appreciating the interpretation, administration and enforcement of the ESA.

– Staff at the Employment Standards Information Centre are offered to address your concerns about the ESA. Information is offered in many languages. You can reach the information centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.